Wynne Temporary High School Campus

800 E Jackson Ave, Wynne, Arkansas, 72396 United States

Building Area (sf): 95,180 sf

Completion: September 1, 2023

In response to their high school taking a direct hit from an F-3 tornado, leaving the campus uninhabitable, a 95,000-square-foot temporary high school campus was constructed for the Wynne School District in Wynne, AR. Designed and built in 13 weeks, the campus includes 30 classrooms, 4 science laboratories, an auditorium, a media center, a gymnasium, a cafeteria, and administrative offices.

Our design philosophy centered on a crucial question: How does architecture respond to a disaster? We approached this project from a humanitarian perspective, focusing on reestablishing an anchor point for the community of Wynne. The new campus went beyond providing a home for students and teachers; it symbolized the strength and resilience of a community rebuilding itself.
The design and construction of a temporary high school campus in Wynne, AR, were driven by the urgent need to respond to a natural disaster. Faced with the imperative to build a new high school campus, the Wynne School District had no other option. The high school was a cornerstone of the community, the largest public space in the city, accommodating events like church services, community meetings, and funerals. There were no other spaces in the city large enough for 850 students and teachers, forcing us to design a new campus as quickly as possible.
In 13 weeks, our team, along with CSA Engineering and Nabholz Construction, designed and built a new high school for the community of Wynne, AR. An abandoned trailer site was selected as the new location for this campus. We partnered with multiple vendors to re-purpose and re-imagine temporary structures and modular containers to create educational spaces for 850 students and teachers. Students and teachers returned to school on September 5, 2023, to a new high school campus just five months after the tornado.

Nabholz